Video: Albert Bandura: Social-Cognitive Theory and Vicarious Learning

A person's cognition, the environment and behavior play important roles in learning new knowledge and skills. This lesson will focus on Albert Bandura's contributions to social learning and vicarious experiences.

A person's cognition, the environment and behavior play important roles in learning new knowledge and skills. This lesson will focus on Albert Bandura's contributions to social learning and vicarious experiences.

Do you have a fear of snakes or perhaps other animals? Do you think that you could get over this fear by observing other people that had snake phobias? This is exactly the experiment that was conducted years ago to help the psychologist Albert Bandura understand the importance of behavioral models.

Social Cognitive Theory and Bandura

Bandura formed his social cognitive theory while observing patients with snake phobias

The psychologist Albert Bandura discovered the importance of behavioral models when he was working with patients with snake phobias. He found that the patients' observation of former patients handling snakes was an effective therapy. The patients in treatment abstracted the information that others, who were like them, handled snakes with no ill effects. These patients considered that information in reflecting on their own behavior. Bandura found that these observations were more effective in treating their phobias than persuasion and observing the psychologist handle the snakes.

Bandura's social learning theory stresses the importance of observational learning, imitation and modeling. His theory integrates a continuous interaction between behaviors, personal factors - including cognition - and the environment referred to as reciprocal causation model.

However, Bandura does not suggest that the three factors in the triadic model make equal contributions to behavior. The influence of behavior, environment and person depends on which factor is strongest at any particular moment.

In the model, B, or behavior, refers to things like complexity, duration, skill, etc. The E stands for environment, and it's comprised of the situation, roles, models and relationships. P, or person, is comprised mainly of cognition but also other personal factors such as self-efficacy, motives and personality.

Here's a classroom example to help make this point more clear. In the classroom as a teacher presents a lesson to the class, students reflect on what the teacher is saying. This is where the environment influences cognition, a personal factor. Students who don't understand a point raise their hands to ask a question. This is where personal factors influence behavior. So, the teacher reviews the point (behavior influences environment).

Bandura's most famous experiment was the 1961 Bobo Doll study. Briefly, he made a video in which an adult woman was shown being aggressive to a Bobo doll, hitting and shouting aggressive words.

Diagram of the reciprocal causation model

The film was shown to groups of children. Afterwards, the children were allowed to play in the room with the same doll. The children began imitating the model by beating up the doll and using similar, aggressive words. The study was significant because it departed from behaviorism's insistences that all behavior is directed by reinforcement or rewards. The children received no encouragement or incentives to beat up the doll; they were simply imitating the behavior they had observed.

Through the Bobo doll experiment and others, Bandura grounded his understanding of a model's primary function, which is to transmit information to the observer. This function occurs in any of three ways:

Modeled behaviors serve as cues to initiate similar behaviors in others.

They also serve to strengthen or weaken the learner's existing restraints against the performance of a modeled behavior.

They're used to demonstrate new patterns of behavior.

An example of behavior serving as a social prompt is the hostess at an elaborate dinner party. A guest, unfamiliar with the array of silverware, observes the hostess to select the correct utensil appropriate for each course.

Another example for strengthening or weakening behavior is when an observer's restraints against imitating a behavior are strengthened when the model is punished. For example, if a classmate violates a school rule and is punished, this will make the observer think twice before attempting to break the rule. In contrast, observers' restraints are weakened in one of two ways. One is lack of punishment for reprehensible behaviors. The other is the modeling of defensible violence, which adds legitimacy to the use of violence as a solution to a problem. Unfortunately, we see violence daily on TV and in media, which may lead to weaken the observer's behavioral restraints toward violent behavior.

The third influence of modeling is to demonstrate new patterns of behavior. Models are particularly important in the socialization of both children and adults. Language, social values and family customs, as well as educational, social and political practices are modeled in countless situations. Examples for children of symbolic models that portray both socially appropriate behaviors and sensitivity to others are Sesame Street and Mr. Roger's Neighborhood.

The 1961 Bobo Doll Study is Banduras most famous experiment

The Role of Consequences in Learning from Models

Although Bandura believed that learning is not facilitated by reinforcement, behaviors enacted by others often do either reinforce or punish. These outcomes of the modeled behavior are referred to as vicarious because they arouse emotional reactions in the observer. For example, a teacher acknowledges a child who shares her crayons with others at a table, and a child who observed the situation experiences positive feelings.

The two components of vicarious reinforcement are: the behavior of a model produces reinforcement for a particular behavior, and second, positive emotional reactions are aroused in the observer.

Television commercials rely on this type of situation. For example, a well-known actress eats a particular low-calorie food and demonstrates her weight loss or a handsome actor dressed in a tuxedo demonstrates the features of a luxury car, and then joins other expensively dressed people entering a large house for a party.

In these situations, the vicarious reinforcement for a particular group of viewers is the positive feelings associated with being slim or acquiring social status. Similarly, players at slot machines, for example, see and hear the other players winning. The loud noises and flashing lights announce the winner to others. Also, advertisements of contests often include pictures of previous winners. These pictures may elicit positive emotional reactions in readers.

Like vicarious reinforcement, punishment administered to a model tends to convey three primary effects:

The outcome conveys information about behaviors that are likely to be punished and are, therefore, inappropriate.

A restraining influence on imitative, aggressive actions is also likely to occur.

Because the behavior was unsuccessful, the model's status is likely to be devalued.

The absence of punishment conveys several things as well. Specifically, it conveys the message of implicit acceptance of the behavior. An example is a classroom in which the teacher is careless about monitoring exams and cheating occurs. If the cheating goes unpunished, others are more inclined to cheat on the next test. Similarly, when aggressive actions go unpunished or when people respond approvingly or indifferently to violence, this is viewed as both acceptable and expected in similar circumstances.

In learning from models, direct reinforcement is the positive reinforcement by the observer's imitation of the model. Self-reinforcement, in contrast, occurs in situations in which individuals have established standards for their behavior, and they evaluate their behavior in relation to those standards.

Television commercials provide an example of vicarious reinforcement

Self-Efficacy and Behavior/Cognition

Despite how many times a person observes a behavior, they will only engage in the behavior if they believe they can be successful. This is termed as a person's self-efficacy or their belief in their ability to produce desired results by their own actions. As you recall, self-efficacy was a contributor in the triadic reciprocity model discussed earlier.

There are four ways of developing a strong sense of efficacy. We have discussed the effects of modeling, and one way to increase self-efficacy is by social modeling; people see others like themselves being successful. Mastery is another example; people achieve goals and overcome failures. This is an important part of increasing self-efficacy. Social persuasion is our third example. When people are persuaded by others that they can succeed, this positively impacts their self-efficacy. Finally, a person's physical and emotional state can help them accurately read their own abilities to be successful in an activity or assignment.

Lesson Summary

In summary, Bandura's social-cognitive theory is based on the triadic reciprocity model in which behavior, personal traits and the environment interact. Vicarious reinforcement and punishment also play a role in determining whether an individual will choose to engage in a behavior or not.

Let's return to our original example now. After understanding how the social-cognitive theory works, do you think you could learn to not fear snakes by simply observing other former, snake-phobic people handling snakes?

Practice Chapter Exam

Practice Final Exam

Summary:

Earning College Credit

Did you know… We have over 100 college courses that prepare you to earn credit by exam that is accepted by over 2,900 colleges
and universities. You can test out of the first two years of college and save thousands off your degree. Anyone can earn
credit-by-exam regardless of age or education level.